Instagram API changes 2020: Instagram Graph API and Basic Display API

Instagram API platform changes

As it was announced long time ago, starting with 31 July 2018 and for two next years, old Instagram Legacy API Platform were migrating all its functions onto Instagram Graph API. The last deprecation of the old Instagram API will be on March 31, 2020. 

Instagram Graph API and Basic Display API – the new ways of interaction with Instagram, which were developed on basis of Facebook Graph API. With the help of Graph API, you will be able to get media, comments, likes, view statistics and take other actions, which can be carried out by applications.

Fortunately, Instagram took into account the great scale of this update and its potential influence on business, so the shift would be as smooth as possible. It will be implemented in several steps, to give a chance to every affected company to prepare for it. That is why instagram API changes will take place on March 31 instead of March 2, as originally planned. In case you don’t remember all previous steps of Instagram API key update, let’s have a look to a brief overview.

Instagram API deprecation 2018

The following capabilities have been already deprecated in 2018: 

• Follower List – to read the list of followers and followed-by users;
• Relationships – to follow and unfollow accounts on a user’s behalf
• Commenting on Public Content – to post and delete comments on a user’s behalf on public media
• Likes – to like and unlike media on a user’s behalf
• Subscriptions – to receive notifications when media is posted
• Public Content – all remaining capabilities to read public media on a user’s behalf
• Commenting – to post and delete comments on a user’s behalf on owned media.

If your app supports Instagram business profile users, better to start building on the Instagram Graph immediately. 

Why Instagram updates API

All changes to API were done to upgrade it and protect user privacy and safety. The basic changes are:

• New features to enable users to decide what info they share deprecate access to apps through the Instagram mobile app; 
• Two distinct permission to apply for profile and media info;
• Instagram data API deprecation for a number of fields such as location data and follower counts to minimize privacy and safety threats. 

Instagram officially announced about those changes and postponed original date (now it’s on March 31) to help developers get a permissions for both APIs – Instagram Graph and Basic Display API. The possible difficulty they can have is a rather long process of App Review which can take more than a week. 

Instagram Graph API features

Now Graph API is only a developing tool for Instagram Professional accounts – Instagram Developers and Businesses API  (Creators). With the help of it, you will have an access to the following functions:;

New way to interact with Instagram Platform API

There’s no longer need to get special permission for basic info and data in the Instagram accounts – just use Instagram Basic Display API. It can be used to access any type of Instagram account. Common actions, which can be performed with the help of the API:

• Get Access Tokens 
• Work with user profiles, images, videos and albums;
• Get long-lived Page Tokens. 

Unfortunately, it can provide only read-access to basic data, so if you are building an app or services – use graph API instead.

How will I be affected, if I am using Instagram plugin or service?

Such a global update most probably will cause inconveniences both for users and developers of Instagram plugins and apps, so you need to secure yourself from any problems in advance. Make sure that developers of the plugins and apps you are using have announced support for the upcoming changes and release of updates.

Before the total deprecation of API, you need to update your app or find an alternative one, since after deprecation of API your app will stop working.

If this is crucial for your business, then follow this advice when choosing Instagram applications:

• Be careful using free plugins;
• Ignore the apps of questionable quality;
• Pay attention to updates and their frequency;
• Look for online demo of the product or real use cases, make sure it will work smoothly;
• Ideally, the plugin should include automatic updates, since the upcoming changes in Instagram API will cause frequent changes of Instagram connected services.

Unfortunately, the only decision for the client will be to stick to the highest quality products. A responsible developer is the one who is prepared for upcoming changes in advance and who will try to adjust the product with minimal inconvenience for the customer.

Solutions supporting Instagram API changes

These are the Instagram plugins you can rely on:

• Instagram Feed – the best plugin to create galleries and portfolios with pictures from Instagram;
• Instagram Testimonials – real-life testimonials for goods and services on your website;
• Instagram Widget – a small widget to show Instagram profile on your website.

Immediately after receiving the announcement from Instagram, our team started developing the update, which will help to pass from old API to the new one without any problems.

How will I be affected, if I am an Instagram service developer?

All developers of Instagram feed apps should study Instagram Graph API documentation carefully. The update of March 31, 2020 in a couple of weeks, so you still have time to adjust your products to the upcoming upgrade.

Elfsight developers’ comments:

Vladimir Fedotov

Shifting to Graph API is a step forward to new possibilities for developers working with Instagram data. Taking as an example Facebook Feed, which was developed by our team using Graph API, I can say that this tool is very cool and flexible, providing solution for almost every task. The old Instagram Platform API cannot boast the same flexibility.

We hope that Instagram will stand with developers and grant us full capabilities for working with data.

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